


Red Spices and Wine

by Greycoat



Category: Assassin's Creed - All Media Types
Genre: Assassin's Creed: Revelations, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, First Kiss, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Lost Love, Love Confessions, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-07
Updated: 2018-03-07
Packaged: 2019-03-28 04:52:41
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,104
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13896672
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Greycoat/pseuds/Greycoat
Summary: Ezio ponders about his lost love with Leonardo and how it affects him with his feelings towards Yusuf. Also fighting and sitting on rooftops a lot. Actually that's all that this is, but there's also lots of fluff.





	Red Spices and Wine

**Author's Note:**

> Welp. I started this a few months ago and wrote the rest yesterday and almost died. These guys belong to the history and Ubisoft. 
> 
> Note that I am no native English fella, so there could be grammar mistakes, but let's hope not.

There was a breeze in the air. It was not cooling but actually very warm and it held a whiff of colorful spices, the smell of it just as warm as the temperature of the air. If someone were to put a shade to the smell, it would most definitely be red as an old brick wall or fiery orange like the headband and the details in the assassin uniform of-, Ezio stopped the train of thought before he could finish it. He forced his achy fingers to bend into a tight fist and lowered his head towards the ground. 

It was those thoughts that had brought him into this situation in the first place, he should’ve been able to shake them off when needed. Still, there he was , dealing with the aftermath of a fight gone south. It had been just a regular encounter with a couple of Byzantines at first. They had attacked the Assassin mentor while he had been minding his own business and was returning to the Galata den from a day’s worth of scouting around the city. Little over ten men had ran from inside a nearby building with their drawn weapons and caught the Italian off guard. It was fine though. Ezio soon had cornered the leader of the herd against a wall and got overjoyed when he heard a few running steps, a thump, and a yelp. Couple more followed suit and it could’ve only indicated the presence of others fighting for Ezio’s cause. 

The duel between Ezio and the Byzantine captain had been challenging: the heavily armored man had kept blocking hits with his massive axe as well as throwing a couple of hits of his own. Those had been easily dodged until a familiar laugh had come from above the assassin. For a split second he had glanced upwards before getting his head violently smashed against the wall by the hand of the captain. Not minding the dull and hazy feeling, but needing to act, Ezio had swung his sword aside and blindly stabbed his hook blade somewhere he thought the guards face must’ve been. It had sunk in easily and soon the Italian had felt hot liquid pour down his wrist. 

When he had felt sensible enough to lift his eyes upwards to look what he had hit, an amused laugh had escaped his lips when noticing his blade deep in the Templar’s eye. But the smile faded when Yusuf Tazim had stepped from behind the man, the biggest grin on his face and his own blades striked into the man’s neck. 

“You shouldn’t get distracted, mentor”, the Turk had said with a light, teasing scold in his voice. Ezio’s only answer had been a roll of his eyes and a heavy hand against a wall as the world felt like it had spun around on its axis a couple of times with the assassin’s eyes. With a few quick steps the old man had taken his distance from Tazim and jumped up against the stone wall, pulling himself up with the hook blade. 

“Ehh, where are you headed, Ezio?” Yusuf’s voice had sounded confused, even scared.

“I need to clear off my head.”

“I think you should stop the bleeding of your head.”

He had left without looking back.

 

Now, as he was sitting alone in the deep reds of the setting sun, he, in a way, felt regret that he had left like that. But it truly had felt like he had some clearing to do when it came to his head. The wound he had gotten when his head was jammed against the wall was still slowly oozing blood and it was pounding like crazy. The man, however, couldn’t care less. He had deeper pains to concern himself with at the moment. 

“You fight like a man late for his own wedding.” That’s what Yusuf had told him once and it still stung, because it was true. He had never even held a wedding, not even planned one, because his love had always needed to be hidden from the eyes of others. It was only indoors with shut windows and locked doors when he could show his love to them. His affection. That he truly cared. 

It wasn’t even that long time ago when he and Leonardo had been together. Still it felt like decades had passed. Maybe it was the nature of the journey, or the distance itself that stretched time. Or someone with dark curly hair and fiery orange details in their assassin uniform. 

Ezio pounded his fist into the roof tiles so hard it had him gasping for air.

“You know, kardeşim, I may not be expert on treating battle wounds but I’m positive it is not done like that.” Ezio felt his heart jump, from the spook or for other reasons, he did not care to ponder, but he stayed still and let a heavy sigh escape his lips. After a moment of silence light footsteps carried a man towards the Italian and almost silently a Turk sat next to him. 

“Will you tell me what it is that is troubling you?” Yusuf’s voice was softer than usual. It didn’t hold the commonly heard teasing tone.

Another sigh left Ezio’s mouth as he pondered for a moment about what he would tell. They hadn’t talked so openly about the matter before, in fact, they hadn’t mentioned it at all. Both men just knew about their mutual feelings. It was like a scent that lingered in the air around them and only the two of them could smell it. 

“I have told you about Leonardo, have I not?” Ezio had meant the sentence more as a statement than a question. Yusuf gave a confirming hum. 

“Leonardo and I… we were not mere friends”, he paused to lower his hood from covering his face and head, “we were lovers once. I loved him,” He did not dare to look at Yusuf’s face so instead he examined the different shades of red roof tiles. They reminded him of the tiles in Firenze. They even had the same clink when you ran on them. 

A hand landed on Ezio’s shoulder, it squeezed and then let go. For a moment the Italian wished it had remained there longer.

“I know, Ezio. You still do”, the Turk said as he tilted his head to take a better look at the older man. The statement had had a reaction on Ezio, his eyes were now shut and hands in a tight fist until suddenly they weren’t anymore. His whole composure was more relaxed, like he’d given something up. 

“That is why loving you is so painful.” 

The words had come out so naturally. Ezio’s deep voice thick with his Italian accent, the syllables rolling easily on his tongue. It made Yusuf almost drown in that beautiful voice. He had not been expecting Ezio confessing so soon and was, frankly, out of words. For a long time he had been sure he was just imagining Ezio feeling the same feelings as him and had stopped waiting for something to happen. But it was just the start of the previous moon that his hopes sprung back up. Something between them had changed back then. It had been a mutual understanding. 

Yusuf looked at the face of his mentor. He had been tortured by time and a single pursuit for his entire life and it was visible on his face and his whole being, actually. His hair and beard was getting grey and he had some lines on his face that Yusuf himself didn’t yet own. He had pains that were caused not by recent injuries but by wounds decades old. He had that experienced but pain and sorrow -filled look in his eyes. It never leaves, just fades further in the back when he is really happy but then returns soon after. 

The Turk saw this all as he watched the man besides him. The silence between them starting to stretch but it didn’t feel pressuring. It just left more air for the words that had just been said.

“I believe you, Ezio. I can not say I know how you are feeling because I haven’t had these sorts of emotions for anyone else in a long time, but I believe you. It must have hurt to leave him behind”, Yusuf’s voice was calm, none of the words or even the syllables were rushed. 

The moment Yusuf started to speak Ezio turned his head towards the man. He was not sitting straight but rather was slouching over a bit. The assassin mentor in him was shaking his head, but he did not care at the moment, for the romantic man in him was in pain. He let out a heavy sigh.

“Before I left I was actually pondering if I sould ask him to come with me, but he has a lot of work even though he’s an old man already. He is getting more and more famous, I have actually seen a couple of his painting here”, Ezio spoke quietly. 

“I bet he would have loved being here.” The sentence, coming from Yusuf’s mouth, caused a great mix of emotions in the Assassin mentor. He had said that himself: Leonardo would have been thrilled to see Istanbul, see all the beautiful, different architecture and smell the warm air filled with spices. But Yusuf saying the same thing made it all more true. Would things have gone differently if Leonardo had come along? Would he and Yusuf be having this conversation with both of them acknowledging their feelings for each other, would they even hold those feelings? Ezio guessed no. He did not know, however, would that have been better. 

“We are both old men, he and I. He is the same amount of years older than me that I am older than you”, Ezio amused, “but of course we were both still young when our paths crossed. I am not young anymore, Yusuf”, his voice had gotten a deeper shade and when his eyes met the Turk’s, they seemed more dark, more tired than in a long time. 

“Mentore, how old can you be? Like seventy?” 

Yusuf had an innocent look on his face and that had Ezio gaping even more than the question itself. Soon enough the expression on Yusuf’s face changed into that of great amusement. “I’m only joking with you, Ezio!” A warm bubbly laugh left his throat and had Ezio shaking his head before he returned to inspect the roof tiles. 

“Ezio”, Yusuf stated while putting his hand back on the other’s shoulder and inching a bit closer, “I do not care of your age, it is truly not that far from my own.” His voice was now soft and warm, and the hand heavy on his shoulder. 

Ezio could feel his lips bending slightly upwards as he heard the words and looked at the man’s eyes. It was comforting for him to hear that the fellow assassin did not think of him as too old. In fact Ezio had thought of himself being forever young, he never stopped flirting with beautiful women, never stopped racing with the thieves on rooftops when the opportunity arose, never stopped fighting as fiercely as a young man taking revenge for his murdered family. It was only when he met Yusuf that he somehow felt too old, but at the same time being with the man made him feel much younger. 

“What is going through your mind?” Yusuf asked squeezing his mentor’s shoulder. Ezio took a few second to answer, during this time he only inspected his friend's face. 

“Just how much I would like to kiss you.”

“Well go on then.”

Ezio needed no more encouragement. He gently grabbed Yusuf by the back of his neck and leaned close to brush his lips against the other Assassin master’s. He felt Yusuf’s hand on his cheek as their lips embraced each others, as the taste of red spices and Italian wine mixed. When Ezio opened his eyes the first thing he saw was the clear blue gaze of the dark haired man opposite to him. Their faces were still close, so close that the tips of their noses almost touched. 

The Italian felt his heart pounding in his chest and it was nice for a change that it was not caused by adrenaline when fighting against Templars, but by affection towards another human being, someone he could be close with like this. 

“Satisfied, hmm?” Yusuf asked grinning. 

“Mm, no”, Ezio hummed and kissed him again.

**Author's Note:**

> Okay so it seriously hurts my soul to write about Yuzio because I am in an inner conflict between Yusuf and Leonardo and I love them both and Ezio loves them both so it's ripping my heart in two because I cannot choose who I ship more. 
> 
> Also could somebody be nice and tell me is "his love had always needed to be hidden" a correct sentence or did I just make it up? I would seriously like to know. 
> 
> But anyway, thank you for reading, I hope you liked me ripping my heart apart. Please leave a comment! :)


End file.
